One of our favorite days of the year is when we have the
incoming 5th graders come over to WGMS for part of the morning to
start getting them ready for the transition to middle school. Yesterday we had
just under 200 students visiting us for about an hour, becoming familiar with
the building, meeting staff and talking to current 6th graders about
what middle school is really like. This group of students were polite,
respectful and they asked great questions! We are looking forward to officially
welcome them as 6th graders next school year.
In addition to having the students visit with us yesterday,
last night we had our 5th Grade Parent Night to help the parents with
the transition from elementary school to middle school. Like a lot of things in
life, our kids often handle change better than we do. We had a packed cafeteria
of some veteran parents, but a significant number of parents who are sending their
first child to the middle school. Hopefully after our presentation we settled
some nerves and parents are confident that their kids will be in good hands.
The presentation focused on what middle school is all about and the structures
that we have in place to help support students and their parents. Some of the
major areas we discussed were communication, the daily schedule, Team
structure, Interaction Time, Clubs & Activities, and preparing our students
for their future. You can view the presentation by clicking on the link:
Another key piece of getting our 5th graders
ready for the transition is having our 6th grade School Counselor
visiting each of the 5th grade classrooms to meet with students in a
more intimate, comfortable setting on their turf to answer questions and provide
an overview of 6th grade. We also have a Locker Night in August for
students to come into the building, walk around and put supplies into their
locker if they would like. This year our Locker Night is on Wednesday, August
28th from 3:00 to 6:00 PM.
We are so excited to welcome the Class of 2026 to West
Genesee Middle School!
As always, if you have any questions or concerns please give me a call or send me an email.
Continued Success,
Steve Dunham
sdunham@westgenesee.org
Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms
As always, if you have any questions or concerns please give me a call or send me an email.
Continued Success,
Steve Dunham
sdunham@westgenesee.org
Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms
